Stuffed Whole Cabbage

Serves: Serves 6

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins

1 large - whole cabbage, such as savoy

1½ lb - minced (ground) sausage meat or beef

2 oz - basmati rice

1 clove - garlic

1 large - white onion

8 oz - ricotta cheese

3 - vegetable stock cubes

1 tablespoon - vegetable oil

1 small bunch - parsley

1 small bunch - dill

- salt and freshly-ground black pepper

1 oz - grated Parmesan

Add a beef or vegetable stock cube to 80cl (1½ pints) of hot water and allow to dissolve. Peel and finely chop the onion and the garlic. Add them to a pan with just a little butter or vegetable oil and soften for four or five minutes. Then add the rice and the stock. Stir and cover. Leave to cook gently for about 15 minutes until the stock has been absorbed by the rice.
Mix the sausage meat (or minced beef) with the ricotta, the cooked rice mixture, and the chopped parsley and dill (reserve a little dill until later). Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Remove any damaged outer leaves from the cabbage, then place the whole cabbage, leaves down into a large pan of boiling water with a pinch of sea salt. Hold under the water for two to three minutes. Remove and run cold water over it to stop it from cooking. Drain off any water and lay the cabbage on a working surface.
Carefully fold back the outer leaves, one by one until you arrive at the firm heart of the cabbage. Using a short, sharp knife, cut away the inner heart so you are left with the outer leaves still attached to the solid stem. (You can use the delicate inner leaves in a vegetable soup if you wish.)
Fill the empty heart of the cabbage with the prepared stuffing. Fold over two (or three) leaves then add more stuffing down between each leaf before folding them carefully into the middle to recreate the original shape of the cabbage. Continue until all the stuffing us used up then, using fine string, tie the cabbage several times so that the leaves all stay in position. You want the cabbage to keep its shape during and after cooking.
You can either use a large, round Dutch Oven or a pressure cooker. The cooking is the same, except that the length of cooking varies. Add a beef or vegetable stock cube to 50cl of hot water and allow to dissolve. Add to the cooking receptacle and bring to simmering. Add the cabbage (leaves up, stem down), cover and cook gently for 1¼ hours if using a Dutch oven or 45 minutes in a pressure cooker. (A large pan with a tight-fitting lid will work just as well as a Dutch Oven).
Prepare a further 50cl of vegetable stock. After cooking, lift the cabbage from the pan and place in a shallow but wide dish. Stir the stock into the remaining juices in the pan and use as jus to go with the cabbage. Remove all the string from the cabbage. Sprinkle with finely chopped dill and grated Parmesan and take to the table. Serve by cutting out wedges onto the plates.